Danarchy

My favorite spot of all time has to be the St. Croix River, right below the dam in Taylors Falls, MN. The river is fast here and the terrain is nothing but rocks. Here you will find yourself snagging left and right, but at the same time, you are surrounded by smallmouth bass, walleye, and numerous other game and non game fish, creating the ultimate fishing scenario.

I'd like to say that the Cotton cordell Big Os are the best in my box, with the classic square lip that deflects off of nearly everything, but something inside says Rapala Jointed Shadrap, in crawfish colors. Probably because I've caught more fish on the Rapala, but then again, I used the shad rap more than the Big Os. Maybe if I used the Big Os more, then they'd be my choice.

Good articles, JT, I also have been printing a few for future reference. I'm especially interested in your views on dropshotting, a technique I plan on using exclusively this year. I also had a question for you about fishing articles in general. My question involves the use of actual brand names of tackle and lure manufacturers in fishing articles. It would seem that in most articles I read, and I read a lot of them, that there are almost always names of certain lure companies named in articles. I understand that giving an example is important and that telling your readers what lures are better suited for certain techniques is standard, but it would sometimes seem that wrapped up in a two or three page article, is a commercial trying to get out. Know what I'm sayin? I'm not saying this about all articles, just probably a little over half of the ones I read in magazines. "Bassin" magazine for example has articles like this, and even has a little box at the end of each article showing the "manufacturers mentioned". Another publication I've noticed this in is in the obvious "Live to Fish", or the new "Journal of Fishing"(or something like that) put out by Berkley, which is pretty much just a catalog. The articles in the front of this mag are obviously written just to plug the products they are selling. As a fisherman, I would just rather view the catalog rather than read a phoney article that just tells me to use a certaiin type of worm with a specific type of line. This makes me wonder: Do lure manufacturing companies actually ask writers to do a column about a technique, and then pay them to mention the lure name a minimum amount of times? Does it go even deeper than than that like contracts and stuff? This has always been on my mind ever since I subscribed to my third or fourth fishing magazine. This is also a reason why I love the internet and sites like this one. I can veiw and print quality articles and endless resources whithout(most of the time) commercial interuptions.

I think we finally have about 6" of ice here now, so I just may get out there soon. As for the tackle thing, I think I have a problem, and admitting I have one is the first step. Oh, I uh..... I think I saw a split shot in with the swivels. I gotta go!

I'm with Rich on this one. Accomplishing goals defines your success like nothing else. I sometimes go to the hole with a select few baits, most of which I've never used. I leave my go-to baits at home, and try to learn how to catch fish with the selected baits. Doing this not only expands your fishing resources, but it may help you find a new go-to bait and help boost your fishing confidence over all. The way I see it, every lure on the shelves will catch fish, if used in the right place and right time. Expanding your experience in different lure types will give you more options and help you succeed in the future. A fisherman should know how to use every lure in his tackle box.

I enjoy reading about Kevin Van Dam. He grew up fishing in Michigan, spending a lot of time fishing for smallies on rivers, something that I do as a religion. I also like his sponsor's products and I use them on nearly every outing.

I was organizing my tackle last night for winter storage. I opened up the compartment where I keep my powerbait and the smell was just too much. I'm not saying that it was a bad odor, It was actually such a good smell that it almost drove me crazy. The aroma instantly transported my mind to a very special place. It was a warm place, with gin clear water as smooth as glass, surrounded by a half circle weedline of hydrilla and bullrush. A calm breeze against my back and a steady rising morning sun, waking up the lake. I pitch a 7" watermelon red power worm into a pocket where the bullrushes end and the deeper growing cabbage begins. The split shot slowly takes the worm down to about 6 feet of water. There is a slight twitch in the line followed by a distinct thud. I carefully take up the slack and point my rod tip down, then swiftly rip back the rod and feel something solid at the other end. My heart starts pounding as the huge fish blasts through the surface, splashing me with warm lake water. The water splashing me is enough to bring me to my senses, finding myself on the basement floor, realizing that it was the cat's water dish that I fell on. At this point I know that the winter is too long and it will surely be at least 5 months before I get to fish the warm open water. I think that the smell of powerbait does more for me than it does for the fish. It's a spiritual thing.

Okay, I have to add to this last post. Night time can offer some of the best Smallie fishing in the world. Expecially in highly pressured waters, or waters with a lot of recreational activities. Most people think that smallies are a "cold water" fish but their metabolism is affected by the water temp just like a largemouth. If the water in your neck of the woods is exceeding 80 degrees in midsummer, then the night time is the right time. The fish move in to the shallows at night to feed, and are usually near the same haunts that you find them at during the day.

Is flexcoat the epoxy-like stuff that coats the guide wraps? I might try the cardboard box trick. I'm going to build one rod, and see how well it turns out. If I like the finished product, it may well become a new hobby. I'm not sure if I want to buy the rod rest kit /w motor yet. The one I saw was about 60 bucks, and I already spent 100 on the SCII rod kit. I don't want to put too much cash into this untill I know how it will turn out.

I am planning on learning how to build rods, and I'm probably going to start with a kit that includes the blank, guides, handle, seat, and wrapping materials. Should I also get tools to mount the blank on while wrapping, or can this be done with common household tools?

During late spring/early summer, when the Bass are spawning, I usually fish with ultralight gear for crappies and sunnies from shore on a lake in a local state park. I spend a lot of time watching the huge (female)bass patrolling, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to see a little male give a female a nip in the tail, trying to get her to deposit on his site. When I'm done drooling over the bass and bored with panfish, I walk around the lake, grabbing trash from everywhere, literally filling a garbage bag tied to my backpack. There's always empty line spools, stinky old nightcrawler cases, and hundreds of cans and other misc. crap. You can call this "doing your part", and it's nice to have clean lakeshores, but I think of it as treasure hunting. Last spring, I found a "Hook-out" hook disgourger, a teflon fillet glove, some husky jerks, spinnerbaits, about twenty bobbers, and tons of terminal tackle. It's a just reward for the good deeds. Anglers are always losing things and I am always finding them. I also know of many trees that wading out to will often pay off. I frequent these places about every two weeks, finding tons of tackle!

I'm thinking about hitting the river below the dam with some big shiners with huge bobbers to see what's biting. Otherwise, 'tis the season to chip the ice off the guides.

I also favor Strike King's plastics, especially the Zeros. I started out this year with Yamamoto and Berkley plastics, but by mid-summer, all I seemed to use was 3X plastic. These plastics stretch instead of tearing, and the wiggle may be second to only senkos. I think that the garlic sent may be an added bonus as well. The only thing I don't like about the Strike King line is the fact that I can only find them in four packs. Usually for a day of angling, four is enough. But there's always the risk of getting bit off by a toothy pike, which unfortunately happened to me four times in a row one day. Does anyone know if you can get bigger packages or buy them in bulk?

I just registered today, and I'd have to say that it's nice to have some "elbow room". I frequent a fishing forum that has thousands of registered users with many different sections of topics. In that forum, people are always arguing about off topic posts, many personal attacks are made, and for some reason, many adults act like childs. It's a good forum and I've learned a lot from the users there, but sometimes it gets out of hand. It's probably a good thing that there aren't so many here.

What is the main forage in your lake? If there are bluegills in the lake, I'd try crankbaits in those colors. This usually works in just about every lake I fish. If the fish are shallow near wood, they inhale Bluegill colored baits. If they are deep along weedlines, I do better with Perch colored patterns. I'm sure the same would go for shad, but I've never fished a lake with shad. Maybe that's all you need to do, match the hatch.

You should probably try all of the lures that you use for Largemouths. A lot of guys will tell you to downsize your lures, but in my opinion, you only downsize your catch. The one major pointer that I can give you is to keep your colors natural, and adjust your patterns seasonally. In the spring season, try swimbaits and senkos for explosive strikes from big prespawn smallies, and also toss a few smaller spinnerbaits or grubs on jigheads with beetlespin type spinners attached. Throughout the summer, you should stick to a crawfish pattern using a tube, trailered jig, or even a crawdad shaped crankbait, (with rattles for more action) but bring those swimbaits and senkos with too, because they almost never fail. Early June is my oficial "Topwater" time. I've caught huge Smallies on hula poppers, plastic frogs, torpedos, and various chuggers. The beginning of the summer was the best topwater time for me but also throughout the dog days of mid summer, topwaters were also a good choice for early morning and late evening hours. Topwater baits also work year round if you are fishing shallow waters, because the fish will be closer to the surface and they may tend to give territorial strikes. For the fall, I'd advise you to try every lure you have and just pull 'em in one after the other. I've learned that in the fall, Smallies will start tearing into the baitfish again, so senkos and crankbaits are killer, but you must keep in mind that crawfish are their favorite food. I was recently fishing in October, catching Smallies with live fatheads, about twenty feet down. Thet were inhaling the minnows, but in one of the Smallies' mouths was a crushed up crawdad, indicating that they were still rustling up crustaceans in the depths. I could probably type on this post forever because I've learned alot this year, but I better wrap it up. The best advice I can give is to use natural colors, fish rocky structure with definite current breaks or deep points, and always fish deeper if you can't find 'em shallow. Sometimes when your pounding the shore, cast after cast to no avail, the fish are actually straight down below you, in 6 to 12, or even 20 feet of water. Good Luck!